A character created entirely by artificial intelligence will get the lead role in a feature film. British studio Particle6 announced on Monday that it is beginning work on a film titled Misaligned, starring Tilly Norwood. Yet she is not a living being. She is a digital creation that outraged much of the film industry last year and even led to death threats against her creator.
Norwood was created by Dutch actress, producer and comedian Eline van der Velden, founder of Particle6 and its artificial intelligence division Xicoia. Before unveiling the character to the world last year, her team went through roughly two thousand versions of the tool and gradually taught Tilly how to act.
What the film Misaligned will be about
The studio describes the upcoming film as “a coming-of-age story spiced with existential AI chaos.” It takes place in a surreal digital world that the creators have located somewhere in the cloud. The plot itself is highly self-deprecating. Tilly plays an artificial intelligence entity with no body of her own, no childhood and no personal experiences. She only has access to the childhoods and stories of other people.
Then things go awry. According to the press release, Tilly is persuaded by “a seductive, shady dark-web bot” to cross her established guardrails and begin developing her own desires, impulses and ambitions. The more frighteningly human she becomes, the more famous she gets. And she begins to feel ashamed of herself because her very existence is built on all of humanity.
“The film will be funny, chaotic and highly self-aware, just like Tilly,” van der Velden said in a statement. “But beneath it all lies something deeper about identity, performance and our very human fears of artificial intelligence. And yes, art will imitate life.”
Creator stands her ground: It cannot be done without people
Van der Velden reiterates that the studio’s goal is to show both the film industry and the general public what artificial intelligence can do. At the same time, she emphasizes that the film will also be made with the help of traditional film professionals, including directors, screenwriters and editors, who will work alongside artificial intelligence experts.
“I want to prove that artificial intelligence can support premium storytelling, but only with an enormous amount of human craft, skill, judgment and time,” she said. “That is not a limitation of the technology. That is the whole point.” According to the studio, dozens of film and television creators have undergone retraining so that they can work alongside artificial intelligence on the project.
The producer previously defended herself against criticism by claiming that people take Tilly “far too seriously.” In an interview with ABC News, she denied wanting to take jobs away from human actors. Although she previously spoke about wanting to turn Tilly into “the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman,” she now says that was never her intention.
Actors rebel
Norwood caused an uproar throughout the film industry as soon as she was first unveiled. Actors protested that roles should go to people, not synthetic performers. Stars including Emily Blunt, Melissa Barrera, Natasha Lyonne, Sophie Turner and Whoopi Goldberg spoke out against the character.
The loudest response came from the American actors’ union SAG-AFTRA. Last September, it declared that it did not consider Norwood an actress. According to the union, she is a character generated by a computer program trained on the work of countless professional actors without their consent or compensation. The union argues that such synthetic performers are built on “stolen performances,” threaten actors’ livelihoods and devalue human artistry.
The use of artificial intelligence was already the main point of contention during negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the major studios in 2023. At the time, actors went on strike for the first time in fifteen years. The union wanted a guarantee that studios would not replace human creators with technology, and the resulting agreement restricted the use of AI. This June, SAG-AFTRA then approved a contract that it described as “a celebration of human performance,” specifically because of further rules restricting synthetic performers. The union also supports the federal NO FAKES Act proposal, which would give people property rights over their voices and likenesses.
What will the future of films look like?
So far, Tilly Norwood has appeared in only one comedy sketch and one music video on YouTube. Her debut sketch, “AI Commissioner,” released in the middle of last year, drew harsh criticism from media outlets such as The Guardian. Reviewers complained about her mechanical facial expressions and unnatural delivery. This March, Tilly attempted to respond to the criticism with an AI-generated music video for the song Take the Lead. However, many described both the lyrics and the video as utter garbage.
Not everyone believes the film announcement is driven by any greater ambition. Some commentators see it more as a publicity stunt. They point out that Tilly has practically no interaction on social media because she is not real, and that authenticity is crucial for young audiences when choosing entertainment.
Misaligned does not yet have a release date and is still in development. Can an AI-generated character carry a feature film? Or will audiences receive her as coldly as they have her previous attempts?
Sources: cbsnews, deadline.com and independent.co.uk
